Victoria Azarenka's wrong country etched on Australian Open trophy

Jan. 26, 2013
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Victoria Azarenka of Belarus smooches the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after after defeating Li Na of China 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to win her second consecutive Australian Open title / Quinn Rooney, Getty Images

by Chris Chase, USA TODAY Sports

by Chris Chase, USA TODAY Sports

The woman who wins the Australian Open receives the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. It is etched with the player's name and the initials of her home country. Or, in the case of 2013 champion Victoria Azarenka, who won a three-set thriller against Li Na on Saturday, it's etched with a player's name and the initials of a country that's close on the alphabetical list to their home country, but isn't their native land.

Azarenka is from Belarus. So when her trophy says "VICTORIA AZARENKA (BEL)," there doesn't appear to be much wrong. Belarus into "BEL." Makes sense.

Then you look back at recent names on the trophy and realize Kim Clijsters is also from BEL and she's from Belgium, not Belarus. That's when it hits you: Belarus may look like BEL is a good abbreviation, but that's already taken by the kingdom in Western Europe. The actual abbreviation for Belarus is BLR.

We have yet to expect the runner-up trophy to see whether Li Na is from CHI (Chile) or CHN (China, her actual home).